Managing editor of the Rumpus.

Lyz Lenz's stories for

Barnes&Noble

Though women are key to the story, they remain vague, because they are rarely seen. The words “pretty,” “lovely,” and “beautiful” occur so many time next to descriptions of women that I started keeping a running tally. In truth, those words aren’t so much descriptions as they are judgment calls, obscuring the reader’s view and moving the gaze from character to conclusions.